The ad makes a promise

Every ad makes a small promise: a product, a result, a feeling. When someone clicks, they expect the next screen to keep it. If they land on a generic homepage, or a page with a different headline, a different image and a different tone, they have to work out whether they're in the right place. Many won't bother.

Before changing targeting or bids, open your ads and their landing pages side by side. Does the page repeat the promise in the first screen? Does it look like it comes from the same brand?

One page, one job

Landing pages often try to do everything: introduce the company, list every product, collect emails and sell. Each extra option asks for a little more attention, and attention is what you're paying for.

• Decide the single action you want: buy, book or enquire.
• Put that action in the first screen and repeat it at natural pauses.
• Remove links that lead away from it, including the full navigation if you can.

Design is part of the offer

People decide whether to trust a brand very quickly, and much of that judgement is visual. Considered typography, good photography and a calm layout signal that the business behind them is careful too. That's why design isn't decoration on a landing page. It's part of what you're selling.

Consistency matters as much as polish. A page that matches the ad, the emails and the packaging feels like one brand, and one brand is easier to trust.

A quick audit you can do today

• Read the page on your phone, where most ad traffic arrives.
• Check the headline repeats the ad's promise.
• Count the actions available. Aim for one main action.
• Check the page loads quickly on mobile data.
• Ask someone outside the business what the page wants them to do.

Fixing these usually costs less than a month of extra ad spend, and every future campaign benefits.